Sunday, January 7, 2018

The Mighty Thor Review

A very good day Dice Masters Fans. Happy new year to all of you, hope you had a great 2017 and hope 2018 would be even better for you. Anyway, wizkids had just released the new Dice Masters set and this would be the first set in 2018. The Mighty Thor is here! A great followed up after an amazing movie in Thor: Ragnarok. 

What is so special about Mighty Thor set is that it comes in 2 variation, Standard 90 packs gravity feed and draft packs. For those not familiar with draft packs, it is a bigger booster pack that consists of 12 character cards and 24 corresponding dice as well as 2 basic action cards. So if you are out to play draft, you can draft with gravity feed if you want to use your own basic action card, you can draft with draft packs if you want to restrict the basic action cards to only this set. 

Let's get started shall we?

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this post based on my experience playing the game since it first stated, all my critiques are based on the playability of the card and not because I am biased towards a character. 

Also, there might be some words that you might not understand from this article, these are terms we used in the game,

Beefy - Strong stats 
Ramp - Effects that allows you to roll more dice
Ping - Dealing damage to a character
Pump - Additional stats to a character
Spill damage - Damage from overcrush 
Swarm - Having way more characters in the field than your opponent and attacking with all of them. Not to be confused with the Swarm Keyword.  

New Keywords

Immortal - when a character with Immortal goes to the used pile, except when you purchase it's die, it does into your bag instead. 

Each card will be rated according to their ability, cost, stats and affiliation. 
1/10- This card is useless, it helps your opponent more than you do.
2/10- This card is almost useless, try not to use it. 
3/10- This card is too expensive and the ability is not as great.
4/10- This card is cheap, but the ability could be better, use other cards that have the same cost but better ability instead. 
5/10- Mediocre card
6/10- With some set up, you can make this card work, but it really takes a lot of effort to make this card work.
7/10- This card is above average 
8/10- This card is great, with the right combo you can destroy your opponent with this card
9/10- This card is amazing, you can use this card in almost any environment
10/10- The perfect card, if you play with this card you have an extremely high chance of winning the game. 
(Note: The rating are based on my opinion, your point of view will definitely be different, it's my post, I will appreciate if you respect my ratings)

Each card will also be graded with a draft priority, which will recommend what you should do if you drafted that card. 
Very High - Usually a super rare or a rare that is too good for you not to draft it
High - A powerful card that you should pick if no higher draft priority card is available
Medium - A decent card that can support or assist your team. 
Low - A weak card that is hard to use even in a draft situation, you should not pick it unless you don't have a choice. 
Throw - When you see this card, automatically draft it away, it is no help to you.  

Basic Action Cards (BAC)



This is an alternate art card to Arch nemesis BAC in Amazing Spider Man set. The effect is used to knock out a character, either opposing, friendly or both. The global ability wise makes an aggressive character very beefy, or make a defensive character very weak. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium



First I have to say that the art for this card is awesome. 

Big Entrance is an action card from the DC comics War of Light set. The usage for Big Entrance is to reduce cost of your dice and place them into your bag so you can roll them as soon as possible. A definite good card that is great in any game, for only 3 cost, you can save a lot of cost if you keep utilize this action. 

9/10 
Draft Priority: High 



This is another way to speed up the process of fielding your characters. You will get a chance to field a character from your used pile for free, and even if you roll them on an energy face, you get to prep them, so it's a win-win situation for you. 

9/10 
Draft Priority: High 



This is a reprint and rename of the BAC Smash in the Avengers vs X-Men set. The action effect is for you to knock out characters, however, the global is the reason why you would want to use this BAC, it literally counters overcrush effects and make your blockers invulnerable to damage. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



This is a modification to the BAC Dark Avengers in the World Finest set. The action effect is great if you have at least 1 Immortal character in the team. For 2 cost to deal 2 damage is awesome. The global is great as well, if you have no characters in your field, you can spend a bolt to deal your opponent 1 damage. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High (Try to draft 1 Immortal character if you decide to draft this card)



This is a modification to the Gearing Up BAC in Avengers vs X-Men set, but at a lower cost. If a 4 cost action that can ramp dice is powerful, a 3 cost modification is even better. 3 cost action are easier to buy and faster to trigger, you can even buy this on the first turn if you are the first player. 

10/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



This action is great for a sidekick team, pretty much every time you field a sidekick or ally, you get to ramp a die and reduce fielding cost of another character, sounds good. However, in general, it's not easy getting sidekicks without any form of support, mainly because it's not easy rolling a sidekick face for a sidekick dice. 

4/10 (Draft) 
8/10 (Constructed)
Draft Priority: Low (Especially in this set where Ally characters are limited, it's a bit hard for the action effect to take place) 



For only 2 cost, the effect to pump a character is decent. The global allows you to remove your character out of the game in case you need to trigger underdog abilities. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



For only 2 cost, you get to prep a die, that's quite a good value. Plus, you get to choose which die to prep from your used pile instead of just drawing a die from your bag at random, which makes this action even more usable in any environment. 

10/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



For a 5 cost basic action card, it is really costly. The effect is used to wipe out the entire field, and the burst faces allows you to deal damage to your opponent. The thing here is that opposing Level 2 and 3 characters are immune to the effect and it affects your character as well. The global here is the reason why you would include this card in your team, having a character being unaffected by action dice is great, you can prevent an opposing level 1 character to be unaffected by beneficial action dice effect such as overcrush, unblockable etc, you can also prevent your sidekicks from getting damage from action dice, it's quite limited for the usage, but it's a good global nevertheless. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Many characters in this set can benefit from taking damage, this is one of the cheaper option to damage a character in this set. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you need to deal non-combat damage to a character for your game)



This action is perfect for a villain team, because your opponent cannot use this action against you. If your opponent has no villain in their team, you can use this action to win the game easily, just build your wall of characters and when the time is right, use it to finish off your opponent. 

The global is a great ramp effect as well, but try to look for alternatives if you are not using villains in your team. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High 


Character / Action Cards



Absorbing Man has a decent stats, but his ability allows you to change his stats. It forces your opponent to declare attackers or blockers very carefully, if you opponent blocks Absorbing Man with a high attack low defense character, Absorbing Man, if given overcrush, would deal lots of damage to your opponent. On the other hand, if your opponent attack with a beefy character that has overcrush and with equal attack and defense value, you can use Absorbing Man to block it so you don't take any spill damage. All in all, for 3 cost, it's decent. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Combo Absorbing Man with characters with knocked out ability and you will see how powerful the card is. Be it ramping your dice or dealing damage, Absorbing Man can assist you by doubling that effect. The fact that he can also copy an opponent's knock out ability makes him such a good supporting character in your team. 

7/10
Draft Priority: High 



Fielding abilities are more common than knocked out abilities, way more common. I don't mind spending 1 additional cost to get Absorbing Man with the ability to copy fielding abilities since the odds of him triggering a fielding ability is way higher. With Absorbing Man active, your opponent would try not to play fielding abilities in case it backfired against them. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High 



Balder does have great stats, you can go aggressive, attacking with him while giving him overcrush, even if he is knocked out, if he knocks out an opposing character in combat, he will return to the field to defend for you on your opponent's turn. It is kind of like a reviving ability.

6/10
Draft Priority: Low



Later in the set you will find a lot of cards that support Immortal abilities, for Balder, his ability allows him to get +2A when he is blocked, which he is most likely going to get. A decent card, a good addition to Immortal characters.  

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium



This is a more usable Balder. It is use to drain your opponent's blocker. Your opponent does not want to suffer damage from him only for him to goes into your dice bag and might return to the field on your next turn, your opponent would block him and in order to do so, he/she needs to block with at least 2 characters, and you can use this chance to swarm your opponent. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



I really like Beta Ray Bill, his stats is crazy. But let's faced it, there are lots of ways to knock out a character in this era of the game, very few uses combat damage to do so. Your opponent won't use non-combat to ping him as that will cost a lot of energy, actually, if he doesn't posses any other threats, your opponent probably wouldn't care about him. His stats is already so beefy, any damage prevention related ability given to him is just a waste. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low



Similarly, no one would want to target Beta Ray Bill with any harmful effect from action dice due to the fact that he does not possess much threat in the field. On the other hand, any beneficial action effect couldn't be given to him by you because of it's ability. It is really counterproductive if you were to use him in your team. 

2/10
Draft Priority: Low



Seriously, does wizkids have something against Beta Ray Bill? For 7 cost to only knock out a bolt character and that character must be equal or lower level than Beta Ray Bill's. That just suck. There are plenty of cheaper ways to knock out a character. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you are collecting rare cards)  



Billy Club is a cheap action card that can help you to ping your opponent's character. Daredevil is a cheap cost character, it is relatively easy to field him early in the game, so you should combo this action with Daredevil as the burst effect can also allow you to deal damage to your opponent. For only 2 cost, no complains here. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you have drafted Daredevil)



For 3 cost, you get to remove a character from the field for a turn, that could come in handy if that character is countering what you are doing, so this action can remove it from the game so you can complete your move at ease, at least for a turn. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



The energy convert global is back! There used to be the global in DC Comics Arrow and Flash set. If you need mask energy for any reason, the global will definitely assist you in doing so. 

The action is useful as well, it gives you a chance to eliminate an opposing character. You get a chance to roll it into energy and remove it from the field, even if you don't succeed, that character will return to it's original level, so you don't have to be afraid of making it stronger if it rolls on a higher level. 

8/10 (Wanted to give 9, but not every team will benefit from getting a mask energy) 
Draft Priority: Very High 



Blackheart does have good stats, so giving him more stats when you field more villain will make him very powerful. You can simply support him with a low cost villain. Do give him overcrush when his stats gets very beefy so he can deal more damage when he attacks. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



With Big Entrance BAC literally available in this set, i feel that Blackheart's ability is redundant. Sure, when you purchase a villain die, you get to spend an energy to pump Blackheart, but if you think about it, you need to spend energy to buy a villain die, then spend 1 energy to pump him and place that die into your bag. If you want to pump him more, you need to buy more villain and pay more energy in a turn, all this just to pump him. I feel that it really take a lot of effort, and you might not even get to utilize those pump since it expires after a turn. If you wish to pump a character, there are other ways to do so. 

4/10
Draft Priority: Low 



Blackheart obviously supports a villain team. The additional pump can make a difference in the game, so don't look down on it. That being said, Blackheart sure is costly, so buy and use him only if your whole team can benefit from the pump. 

7/10 
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you are collecting rare cards) 



Chipmunk Hunk has really high fielding cost for a low cost character. To use his ability, you really need to be super aggressive, because once your opponent has a 4 cost character active, he will have no ability. Plus, in the late game, he probably can't deal as much damage as he could in the early game. 

6/10 (Please be super aggressive if you decide to use him)
Draft Priority: Medium 



I like characters that can summon minions into the field. Chipmunk Hunk can help summon Chipmunks into your field to fight alongside you. These minions, although weak by itself, are actually great, they can act as a blocker, they cannot be rolled away, and they are technically free. There is also no limit on how many Chipmunks he can summon. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



You can support Chipmunk Hunk with sidekicks, there are a lot of global abilities that can field sidekicks, use those to help pump Chipmunk Hunk and then utilize his pump with overcrush or unblockable. Don't rely too much on fielding level 1 non-sidekick characters, your odds of fielding a character at level 1 is not exactly very high. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



More Inhumans are always welcome in the game. 

Crystal helps you to have a higher chance of playing your action dice since she allows you to reroll 1 more time in the game. For only 2 cost, it's a good ability. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



Level 3 character can be scary, since they have the highest stats. Crystal will force your opponent to roll their level 3 characters away the first time they roll it, in a way, your opponent have a lower odds of getting a character face on their character dice (If you need the Math proof, please feel free to PM me). It can get annoying for your opponent in the long run, you can see their expression if they have to roll a level 3 characters away and it lands on energy face the second time they roll it.

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium



If you are in need of sidekick, Crystal can support your team. By converting wild energies to sidekicks, you have a higher chance of getting a sidekick when you roll a sidekick die. She is only a 2 cost, so it's really easy to get him out in the field early. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



Abilities that specifically targets a specific energy is weak, but you can use him aggressively by using force block effect to force a weak mask character to block him and give him overcrush, he should deal some spill damage. You can also use him defensively against opposing Mask energy attackers, to have a higher chance of knocking them out. It is actually not a bad ability. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium



Villains are very common in a constructed format, however, if you do have a slot in your team, you could add in Daredevil. In a case where your opponent does plays villain and keeps fielding them in a game, Daredevil can help you to ramp a lot of dice in the game. 

In a draft, villains are common, so Daredevil will come in handy. 

7/10 (Constructed)
Draft Priority: Medium



Again, Daredevil works well only against villain. The difference here however is that you can always convert a character to villain with global abilities. It's weird to say this, but Daredevil can be your healer in your team. 

7/10 (Constructed)
8/10 (Draft)
Draft Priority: High 



Destroyer is a simple destroyer (pun intended), you are force to go aggressive with him, so you can give him overcrush for him to destroy your opponent (more puns intended).

5/10
Draft Priority: Medium



Basically to make Destroyer more powerful, you need to keep fielding villains. The villain affiliation part of the ability is great though, you might wonder why he is not a villain unless you field a villain, it's because during your turn, you can make him a villain after fielding another villain to make him accessible to all villain pump abilities, and after your turn, you opponent cannot use ability that counters villain against him since he is no longer a villain. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Although a bit more costly, but it's easier to get Destroyer at a higher stats. You can support him with Ally and Sidekicks and he will be super powerful. Allies are actually quite powerful nowadays, so you can use them to support your team and Destroyer as your source of offense AND defense since he is so beefy after those pump. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High 



Earth X characters are 4 of the 8 super rares characters in this set. Each of them only has 1 die. Finally, no more crossover characters (characters with multiple energy), it's quite tough buying characters with multiple energies. 

Earth X Captain America has a lot of abilities, first, he cannot be block by villains, so if you can convert all your opposing characters to villain, he will be quite powerful. 

His stats may make him hard to exit the field, but his fielding ability is great; gaining 4 life if your life total is less than your opponent. If you have fewer characters, you can also trigger his underdog ability of fielding characters from your used pile. For 5 cost, there is so much Earth X Captain America can do for you. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



I believe you would use his underdog ability when you purchase him, so I will take it as he is a 3 cost character. Machine Man does not possess any threat in the field against your opponent, his stats are just decent and he does not have pther abilities that are threatening, however, he can be a safeguard against opposing action, global and character's abilities. There are action dice that can deal area damage or affect every character, he is just immune to those used by your opponent, can't say he is totally useless.

7/10 
Draft Priority: High (Because he is a super rare)



This is a scary card, because you can destroy your opponent's field. If your opponent does not have any active mask character in their field, when you field Earth X The Skull, your opponent's field is basically empty. It's a double edge sword though as you will get affected as well, but you can always field all other characters after you field The Skull, plus, his ability can be reuse over and again, you can field him and trigger his underdog ability and then knock him out together with your characters. It kind of even up the field for you. However, it is not a totally broken card as your opponent's health cannot go below 1, so you cannot finish your opponent this turn. You can shut him down to 1 life and use non-combat damage global abilities to ping your opponent next turn though. You need to make sure that you can finish your opponent off because if you don't, your opponent will have a chance to bring their characters back into the field and finish you off. 

7/10 (It's really not easy setting him up, so I can't give it too high of a rating)
Draft Priority: Very High



Earth X Thor has a lot of abilities, you can basically knock out up to 3 characters depending on the conditions you fulfill when you field her. She has high stats, so make use of that so you can make her exit the field for you to trigger her ability again. 

7/10
Draft Priority: High



Enchantress can protect you or your characters from getting damage. You can prevent taking damage from an unblocked character, character ability's damage, or prevent damage dealt to your characters. The problem here is that it is easy to counter, your opponent could just ping your characters with 1 damage and Enchantress ability will be used up this turn. 

7/10 (It is still a usable card)
Draft Priority: Medium 



This ability can slow down your opponent from fielding too much characters when Enchantress is active. If your opponent keeps fielding characters in a turn, they might just wipe out their own field after they are done fielding characters, it does put a little pressure on your opponent. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



This is another form of control. To force your opponent to spend 1 energy to use action or global is torturing since they are both essentials in the game. You will need to quickly get Enchantress out in the field to start putting high pressure on your opponent and to take control of the game. Once Enchantress is in the field, you are pretty much in control and can take your time to build your offense. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



Fandral has a really good attack value, he can knock out a lot of characters. By forcing the opposing character with the highest cost to block him, he can help you to get rid of your opponent's high cost character. Plus, he has the immortal keyword. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium



The Warrior Three (Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg) works are a team.  Deadly is a great ability, when a character has deadly, your opponent will try not to engage it if they don't want to knock out their characters. Plus, Hogun and Volstagg gets extra pump if Fandral is active, so they can get really powerful and Deadly. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium, High if you drafted Volstagg and Hogun 



If you are playing a low cost team, you can use Fandral to punish your opponent. Characters with 4 cost or more are likely to be powerful characters that are good in the late game (I assume no one will bring weak characters in the game to troll around), to make them more expensive to field does drain your opponent's energy, you might make their fielding cost so expensive that your opponent cannot even field them. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you drafted all cheap characters) 



Is that the Professor X global? I bet it is! It is back! For those who didn't play back when Uncanny X-Men was release, the global is the game changer, it makes all high cost character easier to buy, it is practically a game changer. Glad to see it back. 

Heimdall's ability helps if you are playing an Immortal team. He is hard to exit the field, so I wouldn't use him for his character ability, but rather for the global, he is a common card, so it shouldn't be hard to get this card for the global usage in a constructed format. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High (Low if you already drafted another version of Heimdall) 



The global ability is also on this card, so you can use this as well. The ability wise for Heimdall is again, more usable for Immortal. It's not easy to knock out Heimdall so don't expect his ability to trigger. 

9/10 
Draft Priority: High (Low if you already drafted other versions of Heimdall)



For a higher cost, the ability is slightly better, but again, more usable for an Immortal Team. You get to ramp dice according to the number of Immortal characters in your field. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High (Low if you drafted another version of Heimdall)



I really like Hela's stats, but at no time should your character ability helps your opponent, especially from a 6 cost character. You giving your opponent 3 dice to prep might be the reason why you lost. It just doesn't make sense, you spend 6 cost to buy Hela, make the effort to roll and field her, and your opponent gets partial reward for your tough effort, what crap is that. 

2/10
Draft Priority: Throw



7 cost character is not hard to purchase given that Heimdall global is available, even in draft. Making your characters Immortal gives you an advantage, you can go aggressive with them and if they are unblocked, they goes to your bag and you have a high chance of drawing, rolling and fielding them again. You can combo her with all cheap cost character with good stats, and cards that helps immortal characters now helps them as well. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you have cards that support Immortal) 



Hela's ability is hard to trigger, as Immortal character are very beefy, so you probably won't get to ramp any dice from her ability. 

Her global is really special, it is the most expensive global in the game, but one of the most powerful ones that ever existed. To put your opponent's character back into their card is a huge move. It kind of waste your opponent's energy and effort to buy that character die. The effect is a double edge sword, so make sure that your characters are cheap so you don't feel very painful when your opponent does the same to you. If all your characters are cheap, your opponent wouldn't dare to use the global since it's not worth to place your cheap characters back into their card only for you to put their expensive characters onto their card. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



Intimidate allows you to remove a character out of the game for a turn when you field a character with the Intimidate keyword. All Warrior 3 characters are very beefy, but at the same time, because of the pump given by Hogun, you can go aggressive with your characters and even if they are knocked out, you get to trigger the Intimidate ability. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you drafted Fandral and Volstagg) 



I know Immortal ability is strong, but not that strong that you have to let your opponent prep a die each time you field Hogun. You are not going to finish your opponent off each time you field Hogun, so I don't see why it will be worth it to field Hogun for your opponent to prep a die. 

1/10
Draft Priority: Throw



Again, I really hate the fact that your opponent gets to have some sort of reward for your effort to buy, roll and field your characters. Even if you play a team of Immortal characters and your opponent doesn't, it's not a good trade for you to prep 3 dice while your opponent preps 2, why should your opponent get any reward for your effort? 

2/10
Draft Priority: Throw (High if you are collecting rare cards)



This is clearly She Hulk, but for some reason, she is named as Hulk, so I will call her Hulk as well. First of all, it is easy for your other characters to take damage in the game, so Hulk will always be at level 3. When she is at level 3, each time your other characters take damage, she deals 2 damage to your opponent. That is so sick, imagine you attacking with a character and your opponent blocks it, she will deal damage to your opponent. You can play mind games with your opponent using her global. First, once she is at level 3, you can attack with a sidekick, and if your opponent blocks it, Hulk deals 2 damage to your opponent, and if your opponent doesn't block that sidekick, you can use the global to pump the sidekick to deal more damage. The global is very useful and her ability is really powerful, good card in general. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High



For a lower cost, it's easier to buy Hulk and her ability makes it even easier to spin her to level 3. However, you can't really punish your opponent as there is no additional ability from her, the global is still there though but I would rather you use the common version. 

5/10 
Draft Priority: Low



Hulk should never been given a fielding ability. Basically if you field Hulk at level 3, nothing really happens, her ability does not trigger. Even if she triggers her ability, dealing only 4 damage to characters is not really very crucial, especially from a 6 cost character's effect. Spinning Hulk up a level is good but not that I have to spend 6 cost for her effect to do so, also, where is the global ability? 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low (Unless you are collecting rare cards) 



Getting defense pump wouldn't be as good as attack pump, Iron Man has good defense stats, getting more defense value makes him almost indestructible. A simple defensive character, nothing much to offer. You can use villain converter to support his ability. 

6/10 
Draft Priority: Medium

 

Global abilities are essential, so your opponent will use them a lot in a game, that being said, relying on your opponent for Iron Man to get pumped up isn't the way to go if you want to use him as your primary source of attack or defend, it's because you don't have control on his ability. However, you can tempt your opponent to use your global so Iron Man always gets pump up, and when he is pumped, you can give him overcrush for him to deal some damage. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



5 cost character is costly, but with Heimdall global, it's possible to get him into the field in the early game. Iron Man is a source of ramp, he allows you to prep a die every turn, as long as you use a global ability, which I believe you would use at least once per turn. In the long run, the ability will be beneficial for you, so do get Iron Man out early. 

9/10
Draft Priority:  Very high



Thor is expensive to field, so Jane Foster can help you to get him (or her if you are talking about other versions of Thor) into the field. However, it's not easy triggering this ability, you would have to have a Thor die in your used pile and then knock out Jane Foster so she can trigger her ability, all just to field a Thor die. Thor needs to be worthy for your effort to do all this. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Low (Medium if you really need cheap cost character)



If you intend to build a team of Immortal characters, you can use Jane Foster to support your team. Immortal characters are expensive and have high fielding cost, reducing those cost to 0 would definitely benefit you. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you are going to play Immortal characters)



This is an even better support if you are going to play a team of Immortal characters. First of all, you get to purchase all those expensive Immortal characters at 2 cost less, which will make a big difference. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High (Very high if you are going to play Immortal characters)



Jarnbjorn is a weapon wield by Thor before he wield Mjolnir. 

Doubling a character's attack value is scary. It is even scarier if the character has overcrush and the scariest if the character is unblockable. This is a good support card for characters with high attack value. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High 



Immortal characters are powerful and beefy, the thing with them is that beefy characters usually possess no threat if they attack with no other ability. Use this action and give all Immortal characters overcrush and 2A 2D pump, that will change everything. It might even end the game for your opponent. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High (Please draft some Immortal characters after you draft this card)



Combo this with Rare Jane Foster and you can buy a 6 cost immortal for only 1 cost, that is really sick! Even with Jane Foster, reducing a Immortal character's cost by 3 is huge, you can buy expensive Immortal characters in the early game and start punishing your opponent.

The global is great if you need fist energy, so even if you don't want to use Immortal characters, you can use this card for the Fist converter. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High



A 3 cost character with Deadly, enough said. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High





A 2 cost Inhuman with good stats, why not?

7/10

Draft Priority: Medium 



Karnak's ability helps you to knock out a beefy character easily. You can field Karnak and ping an opposing beefy character with 1 damage and it is knocked out. It's a great ability that shouldn't be underestimated. You will probably understand when your beefy characters gets knocked out by a 3 cost character and a ping. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High (Do look out for effect that can ping damage to your opponent) 



Wizkids is trolling us right? I know Kate Bishop is low cost and has a good stats, but do I really need to lose life equal to his defense each time I field her, that's just insane. 

1/10
Draft Priority: Throw



Simple fielding ability that deals damage to your opponent, just like that, no questions asked. Her global ability is great as well, you can use it to counter overcrush and unblockable character or even use it on your character with attacking ability so you don't knock it out. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High


\
I am not a fan of characters not being able to be blocked by higher level characters, because it makes their level 3 useless and even their level 1 face can be countered by a sidekick. The uncommon version is so much better, I would rather use that. 

4/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you are collecting rare cards) 



Loki's ability is so powerful in it's way. Having the option to pay a bolt energy to cancel a global ability is so good, especially if the global ability requires multiple energy to use. It's a double edge sword so make sure that you don't rely on global ability as much so your opponent can also use the global to counter you. Loki also has the immortal keyword, not that anyone should attack with him, but it's a bonus. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High 



This is literally a counter to Immortal characters. Making them deal only 1 damage is so awesome, it will slow down their aggression, so keep this in a draft in case you are overwhelm by Immortal characters. 

In constructed format, since Immortal are not common, Loki might not be very helpful. 

9/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed)
Draft Priority: High 



It's always fun to take control of an opposing character. The issue here is that it is a fielding ability and it's not easy to make Loki exit the field. So you really need to make full use of his ability, and I don't think an opposing character would be so lethal such that when you control it, you will win the game, because if they are really that good, your game would have ended sooner. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you are collecting rare cards)



Malekith have good defensive stats and with Attune abilities from DND Tomb of Annihilation set, action combo are very common, you can use Malekith to support the team by having him ramp a die each time you use an action die. Even in a draft, you can use low cost action and Malekith to ramp lots of dice during the game, even you a definite advantage over your opponent. 

9/10 
Draft Priority: High 



Malekith is a sidekick supporter but he can support villain as well. In a draft, he will make your sidekick strong and can support a villain team by making Allies and sidekicks villain as well. In constructed, especially if you combo with Norman Osborn Super rare from Guardians of Galaxy set, it can get really sick. 

7/10 (Draft)
8/10 (Constructed)
Draft Priority: Medium 



Malekith ability is a good benefit for you if you are using action dice. Placing your action dice into your bag instead of used pile after you use them gives you a higher chance of using them again in your next turn. The global ability is crazy as well, first the ability to knock out your characters is crucial, especially for characters that are hard to exit the field and has good knock out or fielding ability, next, reducing action dice's cost by 2 makes your action die so much more cheaper if it isn't already very cheap. Malekith is good in every format, because you will definitely at least rely on 1 action die in the game. 

10/10
Draft Priority: Very High



This action basically helps you to wipe the field, however, it only targets level 1 and level 2 (if rolled on double burst face) characters, so level 3 and Thor are immune to the effect. Plus, your characters are affected as well, so you might do more harm than good for your team. A bit risky to use this action. 

4/10
Draft Priority: Low



Bolt energy are one of the most useful energy in the game, a lot of global that can deal damage or ping characters or opponent requires bolt energy. This action helps a lot especially if you have a lot of bolt characters that are cheap cost in your team. The burst faces are the crucial face as you get to deal damage to your opponent for every bolt energy in your reserve pool. This can be your source of offense, and it's easy to use, all you need is save up bolt energy and then use this action to start damaging people. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (Very high if you drafted a lot of bolt characters)



The global effect, again is very helpful especially if you need bolt energy.

The action effect is great too, you get to ping characters in the field, you can accumulate the damage so high up that it's enough to knock out a beefy character, it's not easy to set up though, but it's still possible. You can also use this action to weaken opposing characters so your overcrush characters can deal more spill damage. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High



I think this card is a little broken. It's easy to deal damage to a character, since there are so many non-combat damage effect available in the game. Each time you ping Mr Fixit, he gets more powerful, imagine just spending 1 energy to ping him and he gets at least a +6A, however sick is that. That being said, please don't be too greedy that you keep pumping and damaging him until he is left with 1D and your opponent can ping him to knock him out, and your all your effort is wasted. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High (Draft some cards that can deal non-combat damage)



There are a lot of effects that can help you to knock out a character and Mr Fixit will get the pump each time a character is knock out. You can use effect that deals area damage to wipe out some of your opponent's character in the field to help pump Mr Fixit. Now since he gets the defense pump as well, he can also be a tremendous blocker. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



You know what will be funny? Your opponent cannot draw dice during their clear and draw step. Give Mr Fixit overcrush and your opponent wouldn't dare blocked him, because for each character that Mr Fixit knocks out with combat damage, your opponent draws 1 less die during their next clear and draw step. Having no dice to draw will slowly weaken your opponent, if your opponent have no dice to draw during their clear and draw step, they can't do a lot of things and it will slow down their momentum. Use this card to apply pressure on your opponent, I think that's what a 7 cost should be capable of. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High



Villains are not common, but it's not rare to find your opponent having at least 1 villain in their field, so it's not difficult to trigger Nick Fury's ability. Having to field characters for free is critical, you can use those energy that are meant to field characters for something else, it will benefit you in the long run. If your opponent doesn't use villain, you can always convert them to one. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High



Giving Nick Fury a fielding ability is not a good idea. Plus, he can only knock out a level 1 villain, which isn't very appealing since his common version is cheaper and has a better effect. 

4/10
Draft Priority: Low



Again, Nick Fury targets villain. Still, fielding ability on him isn't a good idea and spinning down characters is okay but really isn't that powerful. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you are collecting rare cards)



Odin does have good stats, so if you need more characters with Immortal in your team, you can consider adding Odin. 

5/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Those additional 1A and 1D pump can make a difference, however, since Odin does not have the immortal keyword, it's a bit expensive for a 6 cost character to only provide 1A and 1D for your other characters. 

7/10



I believe there are a lot of more efficient ways to field Immortal characters, you can use Jane Foster rare and Heimdall global to speed up the process. Since Odin is not an immortal character, he does not get benefits from effects that are beneficial for Immortals. His ability is very risky, because if you don't draw all 3 dice that are immortal, you kind of waste the time you took to buy, roll and field Odin. At least for a 7 cost, they could have allow the other dice draw that are not immortal to go to the prep area instead of the used pile, oh well. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low



Pepper Potts is a cheap cost character that can help you to ramp dice. If you manage to keep all your sidekicks fielded, you will get to prep a dice every turn, sounds good coming from a character that is only 2 cost. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High 



Having a Pepper Potts die that is at least 4A and 4D is awesome, and it's only 2 cost, it can help you to attack and deal damage or just defend for you. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



In draft, Iron Man is also useful in his ways, so you should draft an Iron Man card if you decide to use pepper Potts. In constructed, there are more Iron Man for you to choose, so it's should be a problem to use this version of Pepper. 

For 3 cost, you now get to have up to 4 Pepper Potts that are at least 4A and 4D as long as Iron man is active, that is just amazing. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you drafted an Iron Man) 



Punisher has a great attack value, so giving her overcrush or unblockable will easily trigger her ability. Getting more Punisher die that only cost 1 is so worth it, given her great stats. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Punisher is not hard to get knocked out. You can apply lots of pressure on your opponent with your Punisher dice. First, if you give her overcrush, she will most likely deal damage to your opponent and then gets knocked out. Once that happen, you get to roll that die and all your Punisher die in your used pile, then for each bolt energy you roll for those Punisher dice, you get to deal more damage to your opponent. It's a very aggressive attacker, the only thing is that it is 5 cost, so it does take some time to build up the combo. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium (Do draft at least 4 Punisher dice if you intend to use her)



This card is powerful in it's way. It's so easy to damage your characters during your opponent's turn. You can ping them, or you can block with them. Whichever the method is, you get to deal damage to your opponent, just like that, when Punisher is active. Seems fun. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



Simple beefy character that can deal area damage when attack. Not bad. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Non-combat damage are one of the most simplest way to deal damage to your opponent. That being said, for a 6 cost character to only deal 2 damage to your opponent from it's ability is a little weak, plus, you have to spend 2 bolt to trigger the ability. You could just use all those effort and energy on alternatives like action dice or global abilities. There are also other characters that can deal damage upon fielding or attacking, and don't need you to pay energy to do so. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low



Ragnarok is very expensive and to give it a fielding ability can be quite harsh on the user, you really need a lot of effort to trigger the ability over and again. That being said, the ability sure is awesome, you get to get rid of your opponent's sidekick and yours if you choose to, and for each sidekick knocked out by this effect, you get to deal 1 damage to your opponent, which can be devastating if you build this around a sidekick team. The fielding ability is really powerful, what doesn't make this a super powerful card is the expensive cost and it's a fielding ability. 

6/10
Draft Priority: High (It's a super rare after all)



One way to make full use of this ability is to have a character with overcrush to attack, and for every blockers that blocked it, you can convert those blockers to villain so the attacker can deal massive spill damage. It's a scary ability if use correctly. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



A supporter that protects your sidekick, so good for a sidekick team that needs sidekick in the field. He protects your sidekick from effect or non-combat damage that can knock them out, which is super strong, that way, your sidekicks are basically immune unless the enter the attack zone. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



This is a super protective card. First of all, whenever you take damage from your opponent, SP//dr helps you to deal the same damage to your opponent, so your opponent will be very careful when dealing damage to you, they would need to deal enough damage to finish you off to avoid Sp//dr ability to trigger. Second, he helps you to prevent action effect that are active once you taken damage, so technically you will be cursed free after you taken damage. This is a really supreme defender and one of the best rare in this set. 

10/10
Draft Priority: Very High



If you are using a sidekick team, this is a great supporter. Getting the ability to ramp a die for every sidekick fielded gives you a good advantage in the long run. You can slowly overwhelm your opponent with the excess amount of dice being ramp. 

The global is great as well, it can protect you or your character from taking too much damage. Great card in general.

9/10
Draft Priority: High 



A little more expensive but the global ability is still available. If you want to be more aggressive, you can build an unblockable sidekick combo and use this card to support your team. The thing is you won't be able to ramp as much die as the common version, because your opponent won't let your sidekicks deal combat damage that easily unless you make them unblockable, which takes time and effort to set up. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



This card is used mainly for you to convert your character die that shows a single energy face to a double energy face, or to change your sidekick die showing an energy face to an energy of your choice. It's not totally bad, but the set up is time consuming, all just for you to get an energy face of your choice. The thing about getting a specific energy is that it's best for you to set them up properly, for instant, if you want more mask energy, use more mask character, same goes for the other 3 energy. For 5 cost, it is expensive for it's ability, and it's really not very easy to keep fielding sidekicks, only to switch your dice faces. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low (High if you are collecting rare cards)



You definitely need to use Thor in order to use Sif, if you are using an Immortal team, Sif is a good addition to your team if you have Thor in your team as well. That 3A is crucial and with other pump from other effects, she is a force to be reckon with. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium (Draft her only after you draft Thor)



Instead of relying on Thor, Sif gets stronger for each different Immortal characters you have in your field, so you can build your best Immortal team and include Sif in it. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (Very High if you have drafted a lot of Immortal characters) 



It is easy to damage your own character, so Sif is going to be unblockable, for sure. Since she does not have the immortal keyword, you are using her just for the unblockable ability. Her attack stats is good, so do pump her up for her to deal more damage. 

7/10
Draft Priority: High (It's a rare card after all)



As much as I like Breath Weapon ability, I just feel that Surtur is a little too expensive for his ability. It's a good ability and the stats is great as well, it's just expensive. In the least wizkids could have given him another ability so it justify his cost. 

5/10
Draft Priority: Low



This is a more usable Surtur. He gets stronger for every opposing character in your opponent's field. Give him overcrush and he can really do some damage. It does put pressure on your opponent, the more characters they field, the stronger Surtur gets. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



One way to trigger his ability is to have him attack and give him overcrush, he will most likely get to knock out an opposing character, and your opponent's field is empty now. You can play defensively as well, he will also slows down your opponent's aggression, because once your opponent declare an attack and he blocks and knocked out an attacker, your opponent's field will be empty as well, and you can just go all out and finish your opponent on your next turn. Do get him out as soon as you can, so you can apply pressure early in the game. 

9/10
Draft Priority: Very High 



If you are playing several low cost characters in your team, you can use Bifrost to increase the speed of cycling your characters. When you have successfully purchased 4 character dice from a character, you can easily have 1 of those die in your used pile while the others in your reserve pool, so this action effect is not hard to trigger. It's not a crazily powerful effect, but it does have it's own usage. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Low



A more useful version of Bifrost. If you are playing characters of similar energy, this action would be so powerful, it's as though for every character you field, you get to prep a character die, which is really powerful, plus, if you manage to roll on a double burst face, you also get to prep an additional die from your bag. It's quite easy to trigger the effect especially if you are using a lot of characters of the same energy. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High (Just draft this card first if possible, you might just draft most characters of the same energy)



Almost similar ability to the common version, but you get to field any characters from your used pile if you field a character this turn. That is just insane. Imagine you using this action die, and you just purchased a character, you can just field a sidekick and then field that character you just purchased into the field, just like that. It is sort of like a ramp effect, but instead of prepping or rolling an additional die, you just field a target character, which is way better since you don't have to roll that character out or pay it's fielding cost. 

If the action effect isn't powerful enough, the shield converter global makes this card one of the best card in the game. 

10/10 
Draft Priority: Very High (Take this card when you see it, unless you drafted a super rare) 



Thor has great stats and immortal ability, good to have him in the team. Plus, his global is the only global effect in this set that can ping a character.

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium



Thor does not have the Immortal keyword, but he protects you in the game. Thor is beefy, he can save you when you really need him to. If your opponent is planning to deal small amount of damage to you every turn, you can simply redirect them to Thor, he does not get knocked out (because he is so beefy) and you can keep making Thor take damage for you as long as he has the defense to withstand it. Not exactly the best 7 cost out there, but it's a great ability nevertheless. This can shut down a lot of combo. It's costly, so make sure you get your ramp ready to purchase him early in the game. 

9/10
Draft Priority: High 



Also another version of Thor that is very defensive. This version instead makes you sacrifice him to prevent damage not only to you but your characters as well. The scenario where I feel that this version is better is when your opponent attacks with his/her whole field, it that scenario, some of your characters will get knocked out while blocking and if you don't have enough blockers, you might take lots of combat damage, so sacrificing Thor will prevent your characters from getting knocked out and you from taking damage. That scenario isn't very common, your opponent could just deal small amount of damage every turn and if they do, it would be a waste for you to sacrifice Thor to prevent those damage. Right now in the current format where non-combat damage is more common, the uncommon version would be much better. This version requires you to sacrifice Thor to prevent damage, and when you sacrifice a character, it will take longer for you to field him. 

7/10
Draft Priority: High 



I find it amazing that they already release 2 versions of Thor in this set. I will call this Thor as well, but i will use she instead. Thor has immortal and her ability makes her very durable in the game. She can be a counter to overcrush character, just convert the attacker to villain and use Thor to block. 

The global is great as well, it slows your opponent's aggression. Usually your opponent wouldn't mind attacking a character with fielding ability or attacking ability, since they will end up in the prep area if they are knocked out. This global changes a lot of things, your opponent will think twice about attacking when this global is available. Similarly, your team cannot be too aggressive as well. 

8/10
Draft Priority: High



Unfortunately she doesn't have immortal keyword or she will be so deadly. Thor does helps you to gain life in general. You can attack with her and your opponent is likely to block her. Her ability wouldn't be hard to trigger, so your life will slowly increase over time. 

The global is still there, so all is well. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Thor makes your character almost invulnerable when she attacks, don't look down on the 2 damage that is being prevented. It can keep your characters alive to block for you next turn while still can trigger their attacking ability, deal spill damage if possible and damage your opponent's character. For a super rare card, the effect is not as good as some of the greatest super rare card, but it is still a useful card. 

7/10
Draft Priority: High 



Additional 4A and 4D would make Thorbuster even better, but the thing is, even in draft, you are likely to encounter Thor in the game, so he might not get the pump throughout the game. 

2/10
Draft Priority: Low



If you are using an Immortal team or think that you are going to fight an immortal team, you can consider including Thorbuster in your team. If you can purchase it at 2 cost, the character die would be so worth it, I mean, look at his stats, it sure is worthy of 2 cost. The global is use against Immortals, it can potentially knocked out an immortal character, but it's a bit hard because Immortal's stats are so beefy, it's still possible. 

7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed) (I feel that Immortal isn't common now, so no use getting this card, and even if you are playing an immortal team, you might want have more immortal supporter instead of a cheap cost character that is beefy)
Draft Priority: Medium



An immediate counter to Immortal characters. That -4A nerf could slow down their aggression, still Immortal character are really powerful, they will have lots of buff, so -4A probably means nothing to them. 

3/10 (Constructed)
7/10 (Draft)
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you are collecting rare cards)



There are a lot of cheaper ways to prep dice from your used pile. You don't have to field a 5 cost character and sacrifice a sidekick to do so. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low



Sacrificing characters is different from knocking them out, once you sacrificed a character, you need some time to field them back. If you wish to deal non-combat damage, there are other ways to do so, you don't have to field a 5 cost character and sacrifice sidekicks to do so. Plus, US Agents having a fielding ability doesn't justify it's cost as well. 

3/10
Draft Priority: Low



I really don't think it's worth it to knock out your character dice just to deal damage to your opponent. It puts you in a really bad spot since you are lack of characters, even if all your characters benefit from getting knocked out, I still think that it's a bad move to knock out characters just to deal some cheap damage to your opponent and leaving yourself vulnerable to your opponent. 

6/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you are collecting rare cards)



The final character of the Warrior Three. Volstagg helps Fandral and Hogun gain overcrush. Which is very powerful, if you have all 3 of them active, the Warrior Three would each gain +4A +4D, deadly, intimidate and overcrush. That's really scary.

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you drafted Hogun and Fandral)



A great addition to the Immortal combo. Volstagg if given overcrush and at level 3, would be very powerful, since lower level characters cannot block him. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Volstagg makes your opponent's life hard, your opponent cannot field any character with 1D when Volstagg is active, since they will get knocked out upon being fielding unless they are supported by other characters. It is sort of like a sidekick counter, it also weakens your opponent's character so you have an easier time of pinging and knocking it out.

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you are collecting rare)



A simple villain supporter. 

7/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Wrecker's ability is to force a character to block him when he attacks so he can knocked it out. You can also force a beefy character to block him and your other character with overcrush can deal more spill damage. 

The global is a 2 in 1, it can help you to force a character to block and also pump a character, it can compliment with wrecker's ability. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium 



Wrecker is a wild card here. Usually a lot of players bring in a card to use the global ability and not the character dice, having wrecker being active will screw up a player's game. Imagine to use an essential global, you would need to field that character to do so, and global abilities like Heimdall is crucial but to keep him in the field just to use his global is very troublesome. Plus, action cards' global abilities are basically shut down. It's a double edge sword, so unless your team totally doesn't rely on global ability, don't use wrecker. 

On a side note, I am disappointed that Thunderball, Piledriver and Bulldozer isn't in this set, hopefully we can see more wrecking crews in future sets. 

8/10
Draft Priority: Medium (High if you don't intend to use global in your game)

 Conclusion

I really love this set, so many basic action cards received modifications and are even stronger now. If you hadn't realize, most of the powerful cards in this set are expensive characters and there are also a lot of cards that aid a player to purchase expensive characters in the game. So it does shows that the game doesn't only revolve around cheap cost characters, high cost characters can be the next meta as well if they are really very powerful. 

There are so many global in this set, and a lot of old global abilities are brought back, it does bring back nostalgic feeling and also good old memories about the first few wave. If this is the standard that wizkids is setting for upcoming sets, then I am super excited for their upcoming products. 

When playing draft, do look out for cards that help you to buy characters that are high cost, since most of the usable characters are quite expensive. There is also very little non-combat damage, so you will see a lot of old school attacking and blocking in the field, so do prepare for a different environment (I know a lot of players are used to using non-combat damage as their source of offense since DND Tomb of Annihilation is full of non-combat damage character card). 

Anyway before I end this post, I really want to clarify that I do not work for wizkids or any company, I do this post purely out of interest and I don't get any incentives for doing so, so I would appreciate any constructed feedback and not any unnecessary criticism. 

So with that, I hope you get the cards you really want when you play draft or buy feeds. I hope my post does help and thanks for reading! 

















2 comments:

  1. Thanks man, I’ve found your site to be mega useful.

    I like to review the cards in a set prior to purchase, and you have collated them all in a convenient spot, with a quick card review - which I appreciate.

    Keep it up fella ��

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not sure if you'll see this but just wanted to say thank you for this article! I just bought a whole Gravity Feed thanks to your breakdown of the series - looking forward to it! <3

    ReplyDelete